Human trafficking, AIDS and capital punishment are among the global issues tackled by the six documentary and feature films in this year's Human Rights Film Festival.
Sponsored by several advocacy-oriented student groups, the series began last night and will continue through Sunday. Each screening will feature speakers involved in the films or individuals who will discuss the human rights questions that the films address.
The festival kicked off last night with a program on activism and the media led by Bill Greene, an award-winning photojournalist for the Boston Globe, and Professor of International Studies James Der Derian, director of the Watson Institute's Global Media Project, according to the festival's Web site.
It continues this evening with "Deadline," a documentary about recent controversy over the death penalty in Illinois. Phyllis Goldfarb, a professor at Boston College Law School, will speak after the screening.
The festival will continue Saturday with "Favela Rising," a documentary about the slums of Rio de Janeiro presented by the filmmaker, Jeff Zimbalist '00. "Lord of War," a feature starring Nicholas Cage as an arms dealer on the global black market, is also part of the festival, in addition to media excerpts from "K11 Project," which explores the disturbing underworld of child prostitution in Cambodia. The producer of the three-film project, Guy Jacobson, will present these excerpts along with Jesse Sage, a former associate director of the American Anti-Slavery Group.
Sunday's bill will feature "State of Denial," an insider look at the AIDS epidemic in South Africa, followed by a panel discussion on medicine and human rights in Africa. The festival will be rounded out by "Black Gold," an investigation of the global coffee industry, with speaker Erbin Crowell, domestic manager for Equal Exchange.
The Human Rights Film Festival is intended to draw a large audience to raise awareness about the issues it addresses. "We want to reach as many people as possible," said Andrea Titus '08, one of the festival's coordinators. "It's an accessible and moving way to approach these issues and show ways to get involved."
Involvement is an underlying theme of the festival, some of the co-sponsoring student groups, including Amnesty International and UNICEF, will have tables outside each screening to provide attendees with information and avenues for future activism. Promoting activism was also the motivation for bringing speakers to the University in addition to the films. The message, Titus said, is that "there are actual people out there who are active and involved, and you can do it too."
The festival began last spring, when several students involved in human rights groups on campus wanted to bring specific films to the University that they believe addressed relevant and important global issues. Several grant applications and group sponsorships later, the film rights were purchased, and a festival was born.
Earlier this year, without specific films in mind, the students in charge of planning the festival screened a number of films in order to whittle down their selections to the final six. "We wanted the films to be accurate, and we don't want to be accused of spreading propaganda," said Titus. "We wanted to strike a balance between (films that were) really well done cinematically, and gripping, but not over the top."
Carly Edelstein '08, another co-coordinator, said the festival hopes to expand in the coming years in order to broaden its reach and attract further interest. "If you incite interest in students," she said, "I would hope that it would lead to activism."
